The Ministry of Home Affairs has issued new guidelines for the 5th phase of lockdown which is slated to begin from Monday, June 1. According to the new guidelines, all activities outside containment zones have been allowed to resume in a phased manner from June 1. The guidelines will come into effect from 1st June 2020 and will be effective till 30th June 2020.
All activities that were prohibited earlier will be opened up in areas outside containment zones in a phased manner, with the stipulation of following Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), to be prescribed by the Health Ministry.
- In Phase, I, religious places and places of worship for public, hotels, restaurants, other hospitality services, and shopping malls will be permitted to open from June 8.
- Health Ministry will issue SOPs for the above activities, in consultation with the Central ministries/departments concerned and other stakeholders, for ensuring social distancing and to contain the spread of Covid-19.
- In Phase II, schools, colleges, educational/training/coaching institutions etc, will be opened after consultations with States and Union Territories (UT).
- State Governments/UT administrations have been advised to hold consultations at the institution level with parents and other stakeholders. Based on the feedback, a decision on the re-opening of these institutions will be taken in the month of July. MoHFW will prepare SOPs for these institutions.
With the latest guidelines, only a limited number of activities will remain prohibited throughout the country from June 1. The services that continue to remain suspended are:
- International air travel of passengers
- Operation of metro rail
- Cinema halls
- Gymnasiums
- Swimming pools
- Entertainment parks
- Theatres
- Bars and auditoriums,
- Assembly halls and similar places
- Social, political, sports, entertainment, academic, cultural, religious functions, and other large congregations.
In Phase III, the dates for the opening of the above activities will be decided based on an assessment of the situation. However, lockdown shall continue to be implemented strictly in the containment zones.
All these services will be allowed to resume after a discussion of the state governments with the Centre. However, the dates of the discussions are not out yet.
The containment zones will be demarcated by the state/ UT governments, after taking into consideration the guidelines issued by the Health Ministry. Within the containment zones, strict perimeter control shall be maintained and only essential activities will be allowed.
